What is BRT?
BRT is an acronym for ‘Bus Rapid Transit.’ However, in Montgomery County
But aren’t they buses?
Yes. They are.
What is the Transit Task Force (TTF)?
The TTF was appointed in 2011 by County Executive
Marilyn Balcombe, CCT (Corridor Cities Transitway) Coalition
Roger Berliner (D-District 1), County Council
Nat Bottingheimer ,WMATA
Francoise Carrier, Chair of the Montgomery County
Marc Elrich (D-At-large), County Council
Lisa Fadden, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce
Jonathan Genn, Percontee
David Hauck, Sierra Club
Art Holmes, Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT)
David McDonough, Johns Hopkins
Darrell Mobley, MCDOT
Henry Montes, Latin American Advisory Group
Rich Parsons, Parsons & Associates
Craig Simoneau, City of Rockville
Tina Slater, ACT
Francine Waters, Lerner
Dan Wilhelm, Montgomery County Civic Federation
Mark Winston, Task Force Chair
Ex-Officio
Brian Feldman, MD General Assembly
Rob Garagiola, MD General Assembly
Steve Silverman, Montgomery County Department of Economic Development
Joan Kleinman (Van Hollen designee) U.S. House of Representatives
Terra Sabag (Edwards designee) U.S. House of Representatives
Ken Reichard (Cardin designee U.S. Senate
Where are the bus routes?
The Transit Task Force (TTF) has identified 160 miles of road corridor. The bus routes are proposed to be implemented in three phases. General maps are here. There are also very detailed aerial photos in 'binders.' These 'binders' are not yet available to the public.
They are:
Phase 1:
ICC
(I-270 to 29/Colesville Road) 22.9 miles ( ~51.8 “new construction” miles in Phase One, if ICC =“RTV ready”)
(355/Rockville Pike to
FDA Boulevard
) 12.5 miles
355/ROCKVILLE PIKE
(
Mont Village Ave
to Bethesda Metro Station) 12.1 miles
ROUTE 29/COLESVILLE ROAD
(Burtonsville/198 to Silver Spring Metro) 10.7 miles
(Olney to
Veirs Mill Road
) 9.8 miles
(Rockville/County Office Buildings/Metro to
Wheaton Metro Station/Georgia Ave
) 6.7 miles
TOTAL MILES IN PHASE ONE: ~74.7 miles
Phase 2:
(ICC to Fort Totten
(Georgia Avenue/Aspen Hill to Purple Line and spur on
Jones Bridge Road
to Rockville Pike/Medical Center) 7.6 miles
UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD
(
Georgia Ave
to New Hampshire Ave/Purple Line) 6.4 miles
OLD
GEORGETOWN ROAD
(
Montrose Parkway/Randolph Road
to
Bethesda Metro/Wisconsin Avenue
) 5.8 miles
ROUTE 28 TO ICC
(From
Veirs Mill Road
to ICC) 5.5 miles
(Route 28/Monroe St/County Offices/Metro to Life Sciences Center/CCT connection) 5.3 miles
(355/Rockville Pike to Tuckerman to Democracy Blvd/Montgomery Mall) 5.1 miles
TOTAL MILES IN PHASE TWO: ~45.8 miles
Phase 3:
355/ROCKVILLE PIKE
(
Montgomery Village Avenue
to Clarksburg/CCT, including the Spur at
Middlebrook Road
via
Observation Drive
and Montgomery College-Germantown) 14.9 miles
MID COUNTY CONNECTOR
(Clarksburg/MD 27 to ICC) 13.4 miles (Total of ~139.6 "new construction" miles if ICC = "RTV Ready")
LAKEFOREST MALL/MUDDY BRANCH RD
GEORGIA AVENUE
(South)
WISCONSIN AVENUE
(CCT to Gaithersburg
(
Veirs Mill Road
to Silver Spring Transit Center
(Bethesda Metro to Friendship Heights Metro) 1.6 miles
NORTHWEST CONNECTOR
(Between CCT and 355 - TBD) 1.0 miles
TOTAL MILES IN PHASE THREE: ~42.0 miles
Wait, I see my street on this list. I know there is not enough width on this street for a dedicated bus lane.
In some cases the BRT will take a lane from the existing roadwidth to create a new dedicated BRT lane. In other cases, the county government will take right-of-way to widen the street and create a new center BRT-dedicated lane. The system also requires bus stations along the route. The DOT has commented on this aspect of the proposal, you can read their comments here.
Will the BRT reduce traffic congestion in Montgomery County
The BRT will reduce traffic temporarily if all goes as planned. The BRT will reduce traffic enough so that more development can occur. According to the TTF Report, "The RTV system will also provide a long-term sustainable platform for continued growth and development in the County, beyond the current 20 year growth projections." (p. 3 of TTF report)
How much will the BRT cost?
The County estimates an initial cost of $1.826 Billion in 2012 dollars with an additional $1.1Million for maintenance. The estimate for the initial cost does not include debt service or the accrual of capital reserves (pp. 91-92 of the TTF Report)
Is that an accurate estimate?
No one knows. However Parsons Brinckerhoff, and architect and engineering firm, has suggested the cost is too low and the true cost will be about twice that amount. And, other planners who study these megaprojects found that cost runovers occur in nine out of ten projects.
Who pays for the BRT?
You do! There are a number of taxing scenarios in the TTF report. There would be a special taxing district. Homeowners within one mile of the BRT line are likely to pay the costs of the BRT.
re-branding as RTV might be a very good idea. 'bus' has negative connotations that may not be applicable to RTV. for example, a friend told me he took the silver line to Logan airport and it was great. i said, "i didn't see trolley tracks or subway line for the silver line, is the silver line a bus?". he said, yes it looks like a bus but is not a "bus". If MoCo blows it- RTV is not done snmart and well enough - , RTV could be just wasteful vehicles that don't get poeple out of their cars.
ReplyDeletebottom line, rebranding as RTV is a good idea to convey to people a better alternative for them than their car. But if RTV is not really a better alternative, then re-branding is simply a cynically PR stunt, like new Coke.
sheldon fishman
silver spring, md
I think it might be a good idea, from what you are saying, to 'brand' it with a name like that (the silver line') so it fits in people's minds with the metro. Pick a color, any color. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteConcerned about a public hearing July 12 before the "detailed binders" are available for public view. This might actually be a situation where it would be useful to have multiple info sessions (learning from zoning rewrite experience) with "stations" and plenty of planning folks and TTF members to talk to. Exec's fast tracking during the summer months is wrong. All should wait until after Sept 1.
ReplyDeleteI also want to state opposition to the special taxing district. If this is successful, people who live near the fixed stations will already be paying more property tax on inflated home assessments. And people who DON'T live near public transit should not be rewarded by paying less property tax than those that do. Need to take a close look at those, aside from MoCo citizens, who benefit from BRT/RTV, and that includes businesses that redevelop near fixed stations.
Lots to look at. This is a BIG proposal.